Former JGR Veteran Turns the Tide on Fans Questioning Hailie Deegan’s Talent With Stern Warning for the 22-Yo Xfinity Star

Following her dominance in the ARCA Menards Series, great things were expected from Hailie Deegan when she made the transition to NASCAR’s top categories. Unfortunately, the #15 AM Racing driver’s time in the Xfinity Series has been plagued with much of the same issues as her prior Truck Series venture. That being said, Deegan showed great signs of improvement at Talladega Superspeedway as she ran in the lead draft before losing out on the last lap.

However, the NASCAR community has been pulling no punches against Deegan after her run-in with veteran J.J Yeley at Dover International Speedway. But as fans continue to question the AM Racing driver’s ability to run up front, the man who was picked by the community to command the ‘Fan-controlled’ car last season shifted the blame to another rising Xfinity talent.

J.J Yeley pulls no punches against Dawson Cram in the aftermath of his Dover debacle with Hailie Deegan

For the veteran JJ Yeley, a visit to the Xfinity or Cup Series isn’t a usual occurrence. On his part-time schedule, the 47-year-old has to make the most of every opportunity. So when Hailie Deegan’s #15 and Yeley’s #35 came together and brought out the first caution of the BetRivers 200, the veteran was evidently frustrated with the unfortunate end to his day. But at the same time, NASCAR fans were left in the dark about what truly went down as the broadcast angles failed to cover the moment of impact.

Naturally, this led to Hailie Deegan immediately becoming the subject of criticism owing to her involvement in the wreck. All that fans could see was how badly damaged the #35 of JJ Yeley was, and somehow, Dawson Cram’s involvement had flown under the radar. The 22-year-old driving the #4 Camaro for JD Motorsports was the true root of Yeley’s misery.

Reflecting on Cram’s race craft, Yeley did not pull any punches. He shared with Bob Pockrass, “To get wrecked in somebody else’s mistake on Lap 5 is not why I was here,” – but that wasn’t all. According to Yeley, it wasn’t just a mistake, but “stupidity”. He added, “I followed him from the start he was having a hard time holding his lane. His race track awareness isn’t there. If he has to rely on his spotter to know where cars are, he just doesn’t as a racecar driver.”

Going over the incidents leading up to the first caution, Yeley described Deegan’s pace as evidently lacking. This naturally made the #15 vulnerable to overtakes. However, with Deegan’s diminishing form, Yeley found no reason for Dawson Cram to attempt an overtake on her that resulted in the wreck. He concluded, “We were early in the race, and she was dropping like an anchor so why he would try to force a situation like that, take out a couple of race cars, it’s not his first time doing it. At some point, he’ll figure it out or somebody will figure it out for him”

After taking a look at the former Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s frustrations and what they are truly channeled at, it’s safe to say Hailie Deegan seems to have dodged a bullet this time around. That being said, last week’s chaos at Talladega led to Riley Herbst clarifying his move on Hailie Deegan to avoid further criticism from the fans.

Riley Herbst defends himself from the NASCAR community

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Although the fans have turned against Hailie Deegan after Dover, that wasn’t the case when she was running in third during the double overtime at Talladega Superspeedway. But as the green-white-checkered commenced, Deegan unfortunately began to fall back out of the top 5 and ended up finishing 12th. This time around, the NASCAR community didn’t just sympathize with Deegan, but they called out runner-up Riley Herbst for not helping out the #15 with bump drafts during the double overtime.

With fans seemingly stepping out of line to criticize the smallest of details, Riley Herbst was fuming with the accusations being thrown his way. To settle things once and for all, Herbst called out the community. He was quoted by NBCSports, “I’ve watched (the finish). I’ve heard everybody’s opinions. I just don’t understand. Am I not allowed to pass people on a green-white-checkered? It’s just kind of baffling to me a little bit. I mean we finished second, so I don’t think if I would have pushed her I’d have a better opportunity to win.”

According to Herbst, his best shot at a win was if Jesse Love ran out of fuel, and given the situation, opting to stay out of Deegan’s draft and gain momentum was the right call. He concluded, “Other than that, if you look on the (final) lap, I did the same thing with the 21 car (Austin Hill) through (Turns) 3 and 4, so it just wasn’t really her.”

Now that the NASCAR community seems to be at a crossroads with certain drivers, do you think fans are perhaps being a little too harsh in moments of misfortune for their favorites?